The British Lightweight Championship is a top British wrestling championship found throughout the country's circuit. The title's broken history dates back to the 1930s and it has most recently been claimed actively since 2021 under the auspices of Rumble Promotions who have named their version in honour of late referee Mal Mason. The official upper weight limit for the belt is 11 stone (154 pounds).[1]

The championship was recognised and defended on matches screened by UK national television network ITV as part of the professional wrestling slot on World of Sport as well as standalone broadcasts.[2][3][4] Pre-publicity for these championship match broadcasts was given in ITV's nationally published listings magazine TVTimes.[5][6][7]

This is a history of the title from its earliest recorded origins in 1933. As indicated in the table a few claimed reigns are of dubious provenance and, whilst these have been noted, they are not included as official reigns.

Title history

Key
Symbol Meaning
No. The overall championship reign
Reign The reign number for the specific wrestler listed.
Event The event in which the championship changed hands
N/A The specific information is not known
— Used for vacated reigns in order to not count it as an official reign
[Note] Indicates that the exact length of the title reign is unknown, with a note providing more details.
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Event Notes Ref.
1 George de Relwyskow 1 1933 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
— Vacated — 1940-1945 — N/A N/A Championship vacated after Relwyskow is injured during the Second World War. [8]
2 Joe Reid 1 1948 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
3 Jack Dempsey 1 1948 [Note 1] Middlesbrough Live event   [8]
4 George Kidd 1 1948 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
5 Alan Colbeck 1 1949 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
6 Johnny Stead 1 1950 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event   [8]
7 Eric Sands 1 30 April 1953 313 Middlesbrough Live event   [8]
8 Johnny Stead 2 9 March 1954 [Note 1] London Live event   [8]
9 Melwyn Rees 1 before December 1958 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event Legacy from Stead uncertain [8]
10 Jim Breaks 1 16 October 1963 1,218 London Live event   [8]
11 Alan Miquet 1 15 February 1967 671 London Live event   [8]
12 Jim Breaks 2 17 December 1968 183 Leeds Live event   [8]
13 Zoltan Boscik 1 18 June 1969 692 Sheffield Live event
14 Jon Cortez 2 9 June 1970 [Note 1] Aberdeen Live event   [8]
15 Zoltan Boscik 2 4 August 1970 692 Aberdeen Live event
16 Johnny Saint 1 12 May 1971 101 Sheffield Live event   [8]
17 Jim Breaks 3 21 August 1971 1,001 Manchester Live event   [8][9]
18 Bobby Ryan 1 18 May 1974 28 Hanley, Staffordshire Live event   [8]
19 Jim Breaks 4 15 June 1974 [Note 1] Hanley, Staffordshire Live event   [8]
20 Dynamite Kid 1 23 March 1977 [Note 1] Manchester Live event   [8]
— Vacated — 1979 — N/A N/A Championship vacated after Dynamite Kid won the British Welterweight Championship [8]
21 Steve Grey 1 5 April 1978 448 Blackburn Live event Defeated Bobby Ryan in a tournament final. [8]
22 Jim Breaks 8 6 April 1982 49 Wolverhampton Live event   [8]
23 Steve Grey 3 25 May 1982 331 Croydon Live event   [8]
24 Jim Breaks 9 21 April 1983 13 Colne Live event   [2][8]
25 Steve Grey 4 4 May 1983 323 Bradford Live event   [3][8]
26 Kid McCoy 1 7 May 1987 1,126 Adwick le Street Live event   [4][8]
— Vacated — After 6 June 1990 — N/A N/A Championship vacated Kid McCoy leaves All Star Wrestling. [8]
27 Steve Grey 6 25 October 1990 [Note 1] Southampton Live event Defeated Boz Berry in the final of a tournament for the vacant championship [8]
28 Jimmy Ocean 1 3 September 1991 15 Croydon Live event   [8]
29 Tony Stewart 2 18 September 1991 15 unknown Live event   [8]
30 Jimmy Ocean 1 17 July 1993 15 unknown Live event   [8]
31 Steve Grey 7 October 1993 [Note 1] [Note 2] Live event Still defending championship as of 1 July 2002 Only relinquishes claim on retirement (see below) [8]
— Vacated — 2020 — N/A N/A Championship vacated after Steve Grey retired. Rumble Promotions with Grey's approval, held a 2021 tournament for a new champion in memory of referee Mal Mason. [8]
32 Nino Bryant 1 29 October 2021 791+ Sittingbourne, Kent Live event Defeated Lewis Mayhew in final of tournament for vacant title renamed Mal Mason British Lightweight Title. (Grey was orginally due to be special referee for this match) [8]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 The length of the championship is too uncertain to calculate.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The location of the match was not captured as part of the documentation.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Peter Bills, Wrestling, David & Charles, 1983, p. 62
  2. 1 2 "Jim Breaks capture of British Lightweight title from Steve Grey in Ardwick Le Street 21st April 1983". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 7 May 1983. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Steve Grey capture of British Lightweight title from Jim Breaks in Bradford 4th May 1983". World Of Sport - Wrestling. ITV. 28 May 1983.
  4. 1 2 "Kid McCoy capture of British Lightweight title from Steve Grey in Ardwick Le Street 7th May 1987,". Professional Wrestling. ITV. 27 June 1987. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "British Lightweight Championship: Steve Grey v Jim Breaks". Saturday 7 May - Friday 13th May 1983 - Saturday listings page]. TVTimes. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  6. ↑ ""British Lightweight Championship: Jim Breaks v Steve Grey"". Saturday 28 May - Friday 3rd June 1983 - Saturday listings page. TVTimes. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  7. ↑ ""British Lightweight Championship: Steve Grey v Kid McCoy"". Saturday 27 June - Friday 3rd July 1987 - Saturday listings page. TVTimes. Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Europe - Great Britain: British Lightweight Title". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 402. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  9. ↑ "British Lightweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
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